You Are a People Holy to the LORD
Deuteronomy 7:1–26 – Deuteronomy: Then You Shall Live
Second Sunday of Advent – December 8, 2019 (am)
Our passage today addresses a topic with which many people struggle, and many of those mightily. For some it’s the primary reason they identify as the reason they can’t believe in God. For others it provides the key basis for seeing a difference between the God of the OT and the God of the NT. In this passage Moses is giving instruction to the people on the requirements and procedures of ḥērem, to ban (Younger), translated here as, devote them to complete destruction (2). We’ve already talked about it back in cc.2-3 with the defeats of Sihon and Og. But here and in c.20 we read of Israel’s instruction in ḥērem, instruction that troubles many.
But we need to understand what is going on with this instruction, how to understand it, and what we do with it. And believe it or not, I think we’re actually going to be able to draw some meaningful Advent implications from it! Let’s ask four questions of this passage.
What Instruction Is Israel Hearing Here?
Let me summarize it for you. You’re about to go into the land, Israel. And when you do, the Lord is going to give you victory over all the nations who currently live there (1), 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. These nations have been entrenched in their sin and idolatry long enough!
Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? (Gen.19) No one questions or laments their destruction. They were evil! And these are the people of that same region—those of whom God said to Abram (Gen.15:13-16), right on the heels of his first defeat of the king of Sodom (Gen.14:1-16): 15:13 … Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. That’s in Egypt. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. … 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. God was being patient with these people! They were already evil centuries ago, back in Abram’s day, but He was giving them time to repent!
God is holy and just, but He is not bloodthirsty! And He’s merciful and patient, but He will surely judge the wicked! The season of grace for these people had expired! Now judgment was now standing at the door! Israel was His appointed instrument to carry out this judgment and that’s why they were receiving this instruction. They shared in God’s holiness by His sovereign choice of them out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth (6). Yet, it wasn’t because they were bigger or more desirable than any other people, but simply because God, for His own purpose, chose to bestow His love on them, and make promises to them, and deliver them out of the house of slavery (7-8). He redeemed [them] from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt with His own mighty hand, directly, without using any army or people (8). And as they’d walk in His ways, He’d bless them royally (13-15)—no famine, no infertility (human or animal), no illness! But God did have a job for them to do as they entered the land. They were to devote [the inhabitants] to complete destruction (2)—no mercy (2, 16), and no fear of them, because the Lord [their] God [was] in [their] midst, a great and awesome God (21). And they didn’t need to secure the land all at once so that it wouldn’t be left uninhabited at first and devolve to the wild (22). But they were to eradicate the inhabitants (23-24). And they were to destroy and utterly detest the paraphernalia of their idolatry lest they should be ensnared by it (25-26) themselves.
The time had come. And this is what Israel was instructed to do.
Who Is the Primary Agent at Work Here?
This is a very important question to answer in this text. Did God just give this command to Israel then sit back to enjoy watching the carnage? No, not at all! God is the active Agent in this chapter. It’s God Who brings [Israel] into land (1). And it’s God Who clears away many nations before [them] (1). It’s God Who gives [these seven nations] over to [Israel] (2). And it’s God Who threatens Israel’s destruction if they embrace the idolatry of these nations (4). God chose Israel (6). He set his love on [them] (7). He [made promises] to [their] fathers (8) that He was now keeping. The Lord God brought [these people] out of Egypt with a mighty hand (8). Are you getting the picture? This God makes and keeps covenant and shows steadfast love to as many as He wants for as long as He wants (9). And He dispenses justice, not revenge, on His enemies, face to face, eye to eye (10). And I could keep going! I’m not even halfway done! God acts or has acted in this passage in vv.1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, and 24, and that’s not counting His commands! And if you ever doubt, Israel, that God is able to dispossess nations that are greater than [you] (17), just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt (18), the world power at that time! He didn’t use any human agent except for Moses and Aaron and their staffs! But He does work through human agents (2). And then He blesses them for their obedience! (12-16) But make no mistake, Israel, the Lord your God is God (9). So, you need to be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules (11) He gives. And as Paul wrote many centuries later: Rom.7:12 … the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
So, it is God Who’s at work here, working through His people.
How Are We to Understand What God is Doing Here?
This is the key question because it could sound like what God is accomplishing and commanding here is genocide! That’s what He’s often been accused of. But I want to argue in the strongest possible terms this morning that this is not what God is doing. Bottom line, what we’re seeing here is judgment, holy and righteous, divine justice of precisely the sort that all people long for from the depths of their [hearts]! The only offense that’s mentioned here regarding the inhabitants of the land is that they worship false gods. But that is the foundational offense! All other expressions of sinfulness flow from this one! And in the land, this would be a snare to Israel, a lure into breaking their covenant with God by offending the very first and foundational commandment: You shall have no other gods before me (5:7). So, judgment is falling on these people for their false religion. But this is also the beginning of a purification of the land, a restoration of true religion—worship of the one true God.
To answer this question best, we should note three things. First, whenever God breaks in to judge, there is offense worthy of judgment that needs to be addressed. We can count on that.
Second, God doesn’t rush to judgment—He doesn’t break in any sooner than He needs to—He’s patient, waiting for repentance (Gen.15:16; 2Pe.3:9). So, this judgment was not premature.
Third, God doesn’t retaliate in judgment—He doesn’t just get even with His enemies—He restores and upholds justice. He punishes sin and establishes righteousness. And that’s just what we want Him to do! Everyone want’s justice! We want to be treated fairly. Now, granted, when something important to us is at stake, we don’t always see what’s fair very clearly! But we can surely see what’s unfair! And we hate it! We want what’s just! We want what’s right! We want oppressors to come under a true authority. We want abusers to be punished for their cruelty! We want all wrongs to be set right! We want justice to roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream! (Amo.5:24) God has woven that desire into the fabric of our beings such that, even despite our hopelessly sinful bent, we still long for justice! And this God alone, our God, can provide it!
That’s what He’s doing here. We need to understand that.
What Is Our Take-away in 21st Century Warrenville?
Once again, here, I want to mention three things. First, there is real blessing to enjoy in covenant relationship with God and real judgment to fear outside it. Covenant relationship with God is unmatchable blessing! Israel heard that in vv.13-15. And eternal judgment is just retribution for rejecting God! The inhabitants of the land were about to experience that—Sihon and Og, those two kings of the Amorites, already had. This principle is also true for us, but God deals with His people differently under the new covenant than under the old. Our equivalent of vv.13-15—undiminished abundance, freedom from all sickness, and the like—is waiting for us in the next life, once we enter the land of promise for all eternity. But there is eternal blessing in right relationship with God. And outside that relationship is eternal judgment.
Second, we enjoy relationship with God not because we deserve it but because He chose to set His love on us. It’s not because we’re greater than anyone else nor because we are lesser (cf.6). God doesn’t save people or nations just because they’re great. Nor does He save them just because they’re weak. God saves whom He [chooses] to save. He loves whom He sovereignly [chooses] to love. And His blessing in relationship is upon those who walk in faithful obedience to Him.
Third, it is repentance and faith that set us right with God no matter who we are or where we’re from. That is surely the case now. And it was also the case then. This wasn’t genocide that Israel was called to carry out in the land. It wasn’t ethnic cleansing. The people who were listening to this sermon from Moses were a mixed multitude ethnically; that’s the group that came out of Egypt (Exo.12:38, cf. Lev.24:10-11; Num.11:4; [Neh. 13:3]). And in the very first city that was conquered once Israel crossed the Jordan, several inhabitants of the land, Rahab and [her] father’s house, were saved because, in her own words, Jos.2:11 … as soon as we heard it—meaning all that God had done in delivering Israel out of Egypt, [drying] up the Red Sea, defeating Sihon and Og whom [they] devoted to destruction (10)—our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. And with that confession, Rahab and [her] father’s house were saved. Our God is just! Yet He is also merciful! He saves! And that remains a take-away for us still today!
Conclusion
And that’s what brings us to Advent season. What do we see here in Deu.7 but instruction from God through Moses to the people of Israel regarding His sovereign intervention into lives and space of those who were dwelling in the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was breaking into time and space to act in judgment on His enemies and blessing of His covenant people.
Does that sound familiar? That’s exactly how we’d describe what we see at Bethlehem with the coming of Jesus. God is breaking into time and space to act in judgment on His enemies and blessing of His covenant people. But, knowing the story of Israel, how they fared in the land, we can see clearly from our day that a better Moses was needed to lead the people of God into their eternal, promised rest! And with the coming of Jesus, that happened! With the birth in the flesh of the eternal Son of God, the Father, we have a hope of deliverance that could never have been provided through the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter! This was God-in-the-flesh, a Leader and Shepherd Who could remove the obstacles once and for all that rendered God’s people incapable of keeping the covenant stipulations He’d given them in writing! He can remove their heart of stone and replace it with heart of flesh—a heart with the law of God written into it! And He has done so for all who believe and receive His salvation!
However, His salvation is not completed yet. In the last days of this world our Savior and King will return to lead us into His land, forever free of any yearning toward disobedience or self-will! And on that day He will defeat His enemies with a finality that was barely discernible as Israel took possession of the land under Joshua! That was an early installment on this final judgment, but only on a small and local scale. The judgment to come will be full, and final. It will close the day of salvation. This is the work of our Savior, Lord, and King—salvation and judgment. Flee to Him and be saved!
Now let’s give thanks for His salvation by remembering His death in communion.